Talk:Domestic AC power plugs & sockets/My flat
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OK, I'm going to describe the weird situation with the leckie in my humble abode. Maybe someone can shed some light on why it is the way it is, the relevant standards, etc. I may end up posting this on es.wikipedia.org.
- One bedroom has a socket with two 4.8mm holes (so I can get my CEE 7/16 and CEE 7/7 plugs into it).
- One bedroom has a socket with two 4.8mm holes, plus an earth hole off to the side (Swiss-style) which I can't use.
- The master bedroom has a socket with two 4mm holes (so it only takes CEE 7/7 plugs, necessitating adaptors for anything else)
- The bathroom has two sockets with two 4mm holes like the master bedroom, but between them is an earth hole, as in Italy, except that my Italian plugs can't get in them with their 4mm diameter earth pins, which means that the hole must be very small. One of these sockets is in a bizarre position that I have never seen before: above the door, where many people wouldn't be able to reach it.
- The kitchen has one such pseudo-Italian socket, plus a Schuko socket for the fridge-freezer.
- The balcony of all places has two Schuko sockets, with the washing machine plugged into one.
- The lounge has two sockets like the first bedroom, plus one I have never seen before. It incorporates a large, ceramic-encased fuse (unlike the glass ones used for the others). The two main contacts are 11m × 2mm slits, spaced 30mm apart, with a 4.8mm earth hole just off to one side.
So, does anyone know:
- What apparently Swiss sockets are doing in Spain (I've seen them in two other buildings too)?
- What pseudo-Italian sockets are doing in Spain?
- What on earth the big socket in the lounge is?
- The standards involved in any of this, and the dates things changed?
Chameleon 00:05, 12 Sep 2004 (UTC)
- it sounds to me like you need the services of a competent local electrician. You have an install where most of the rooms do not have a usable earth furthermore the sheer variety of connections makes it seem to me like the install has been extended several times over the years by either cowboys or diyers and you have no idea whether suitablly rated cable has been used.
- also have you tried looking for plugs in diy stores locally and if so do they sell any of the plugs for the sockets in your house that you saw but didn't recognise--Plugwash 01:19, 16 Sep 2004 (UTC)
- I went to a hardware shop and found an adaptor that converts the large lounge socket into two CEE 7/16 receptacles. The guy said it was an old type of socket that's not used any more. As with all non-standard plugs and sockets in Spain, he said it was "American". In the shop there was also a very large plug with three flat prongs, which he said was "used now for ovens". The bloke also had a plug that looked like a Schuko but perhaps twice the diameter. He said that it was also an old type not used any more.
- I've had a look, and I don't think the Schuko sockets in my kitchen and balcony are really connected to the earth. There probably isn't any earth connection in my flat at all, so even if I replace all the sockets with Schukos, they won't be properly wired. Chameleon 10:39, 16 Sep 2004 (UTC)
- from what you describe it almost certainly needs a complete rewire. Is this your own flat or a rented property? if the former then you probablly need to look into what rights tenants have. If its your own then obviously you can't pass the buck to anyone. It would seem that places like spain and italy are going through what britan went through 20 years or so ago with electrics where while new installs are wired to the standard that will become permanent older installs are a right mishmash. EU legislation requiring appliances to be sold fitted with a plug also seems to have made matters worse because of supplying with a fitted plug that will make live and neutral contact but not earth contact even though the sockets have earths.--Plugwash 12:48, 16 Sep 2004 (UTC)
- I've fixed the wiring on two plugs that were sparking, and it seems there is no earth connection anywhere in the flat, so all I could do is connect a wire to the plumbing and then hack through the walls to lead that wire around the house to the various sockets, and change the sockets. I don't think it's worth it. I'll just make do, and hope that new buildings are being wired a bit better! Chameleon 17:06, 19 Sep 2004 (UTC)
- from what you describe it almost certainly needs a complete rewire. Is this your own flat or a rented property? if the former then you probablly need to look into what rights tenants have. If its your own then obviously you can't pass the buck to anyone. It would seem that places like spain and italy are going through what britan went through 20 years or so ago with electrics where while new installs are wired to the standard that will become permanent older installs are a right mishmash. EU legislation requiring appliances to be sold fitted with a plug also seems to have made matters worse because of supplying with a fitted plug that will make live and neutral contact but not earth contact even though the sockets have earths.--Plugwash 12:48, 16 Sep 2004 (UTC)
